A few weeks ago, I received some wines to review from the Wine Chateau in Metuchen, NJ. I thought a while about making this into a whole ‘what is the deal with wine ratings?’ post, but honestly, I think there are enough opinions on the subject out there on that subject already.  And a bunch of people get really indignant and heated about it.  Get over it.  It’s wine.  It’s not health care, gun control, or nuclear weapons.  It’s wine. My approach: do I like the wine or not and would I but it again.  I use a numerical score since, well, that seems to be the most widely used method, and I am not nearly clever enough to come up with something unique that people would understand and find useful.  I know, that means I am just following along with the crowd.  Well, I guess, but I also think that way too much time and effort is put into developing unique approaches just for the sake of being different.

I also would classify myself as a wine drinker as opposed to a taster.  What is the difference?  For me, wine is meant to be consumed with friends, around a table.  Plain and simple.  So when I drink a wine and write a review, that is what I am thinking: does this wine work in this context?  Nothing more.

Back to the Wine Chateau. To be honest, I had never heard of the Wine Chateau before they contacted me, but I visited their site and was impressed (although they do not ship to PA). The site is fairly easy to navigate and they have a nice selection of wines at honest prices. They sent me three wines: a Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine), and two reds—a Malbec from Argentina and a Valpolicella from Italy.  I will be up front and let you all know that I have very little experience with wines from either region, so I do not have a good reference point here.  Nonetheless, I was excited to give these a try.  My sister and her family were in from the mid-west and my sister agreed to join in.  Her reference point for these wines was even shakier, unless they end up tasting a lot like cherry Pepsi or Miller Lite.

N.V. Canellino Prosecco: Currently $10.97 at Wine Chateau. As I mentioned, I do not drink a lot of prosecco.  I can’t really give you a good reason why other than my somewhat odd aversion to Italian wines in general.  Having said that, I did like this wine.  It was bright and acidic with a bit of nuttiness on the finish.  Not overly complex, but it is not meant to be.  Went well with the anti-pasta plate.  Really well. My sister gave it a thumbs up (she likes movies). Very Good.  87 points.

2008 Tenuta Lena Di Mezzo Monte Del Fra Valpolicella Superiore Classico: $19.97 at the Wine Chateau. Again, I do not have much experience in Italian wine in general, and Valpolicella is certainly way down the experience list.  Initially, I was not a fan.  It seemed a tad overly acidic and the fruit was muted.  My sister called it ‘bitter’ (as opposed to Miller Lite, I guess).  Once we sliced open the tri-tip, though, this got a whole lot better.  The acidity helped to cut through the fat of the beef and while that was going on, the fruit really started to come through.  I know I have really embraced the old world style of wine (the whole ‘wine is a part of the meal’ thing) so this should not come as a shock, but this wine with food is really good.  Very good to Excellent. 89 points.

2010 Don Rodolfo Malbec Cafayate Valley: $8.97 at the Wine Chateau. I have had a few Argentinian wines and they all tend to be much bigger than I typically like.  This wine was no exception.  It was really difficult to get past the oak dominated, ripe flavors on this one.  The wine was slightly better with the meat, but it still seemed to battle the beef for attention instead of calling a truce and working together.  I will say that this was much more enjoyable on the second night, after some time to chill out in the fridge (sorry, that was a little dorky).  First night: Good 83 points.  Second Night: Good to Very Good. 85 points.